Oldham County High School

LEXINGTON – South Oldham’s strength for its entire season turned into its biggest weakness Friday night.

South Oldham made just three 3-pointers on 14 attempts and had no answer for Caleb Taylor, who led South Laurel to a 71-42 victory in the quarterfinals of the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena.

South Oldham hit 24 percent of its shots and Taylor put up 26 points with 14 rebounds to secure South Laurel’s spot in the state semifinals against Doss on Saturday.

Whether South Oldham wins its first state tournament game Thursday night or not, the 2015-16 season will be remembered as one of the best in school history.

On top of setting a school record for wins in a season with a 28-5 record, a South Oldham win over Owensboro Catholic in the first round of the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16 Thursday night, would mark the 300th career win for head coach Steve Simpson in his 16 years at the helm at South Oldham.

CRESTWOOD — South Oldham junior Jo Griffin will carry on a family legacy when he steps into Rupp Arena Thursday.

Griffin will become the fifth member of his family to represent an Oldham County school on the state’s biggest high school sports stage when South Oldham tips off against Owensboro Catholic at 8 p.m. in the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet 16.

It’s a chilly Friday night in Crestwood, Jim Murphy is standing on the sidelines just minutes after a three-hour drive from his new job in Columbus, Ohio to watch the 2016 season opener for South Oldham lacrosse.

Just two years ago, this was his routine as the previous head coach of three seasons.

“Hustle, hustle, hustle,” he says, still offering his occasional two cents of coaching. “Trevor get out of the box.”

About this time a year ago, I moved to Oldham County and didn’t know a soul. My first assignment was the boys’ Eighth Region basketball tournament at Henry County.

I introduced myself to longtime Henry County athletic director Todd Gilley and told him I was the new sports editor at The Oldham Era. The first words Gilley said were, “Oh, don’t turn out to be like Mickey Patterson.”

SHELBYVILLE — The night before Oldham County played Owen County in the girls Eighth Region tournament, Lady Colonels coach Brian Hood sat in the stands and watched an Anderson County team go through 32 minutes of cold shooting.